Title: The Herald
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Don't Kill.
Warnings: Not beta read. Possible citrus, swearing, AU, mild angst.
Pairings: 1x2. 5+R, The pool is still open about Quat and Tro, but seeing all the interest, I'd say that's a strong possibility
Rating: R so far. Probably NC-17 later.
AN: The names of the newspapers are made up. If a paper with a name like this does exist and Herald probably does it's not my intention, to compare the two. Enjoy the fic, and please comment.

Part 6

Hilde came at very late morning, about 2 am. The party wasn't as good as she expected, and she managed to hop a ride with another girl who's parents came to collect her. Quietly, she opened the door, and was a little surprised to see the light coming from the living room. Warily, she stepped in, and melted on the spot, when she saw the two men on the couch. They were sleeping in each others arms, Duo on top of Heero, with a small but happy smile of his face. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him like this, and it made her sad. Duo deserved to be loved and cared for, for all the things he did for her. She just had to make sure it stayed this way. Hilde went to grab a blanket from one of the closets, and covered the two men with it, taking the wine, glasses and deserts back to the kitchen. Then she decided to grab a few hours of sleep herself so that she wasn't completely dead the next day. She forgot to turn off her alarm clock though, and at precisely 6 am it woke her up. She groaned into her pillow, but decided it was no use going back to sleep. She took a quick shower, dressed in some sweatpants and a T-shirt, and went to make herself some light coffee.

Heero woke up to the smell of coffee, and a very strange feeling. There was a weight on his chest, he was very warm, one of his arms was numb, and he was most definitely not in his bed. He shifted a little, and heard a small groan coming from somewhere below. He opened his eyes, and saw Duo sleeping peacefully, using him as a pillow. Memories of last night came flooding back to him, and he smiled goofily. They were covered by a blanket though, and that didn't fit in what he remembered. He lifted his hand, and caressed Duo's hair, run his knuckles lightly over one cheek, then kissed the top of the braided head, "Duo... Duo, wake up." He whispered. The other man just made a 'I don't wanna' sound, and snuggled more into his chest. Heero chuckled at that, Duo's 'pillow' shaking in reaction. The braided man slowly, groggily opened his eyes, blinking up at Heero, before he recognized him, and smiling when his own memories came to him, "Hi there" He said in a sleep rough voice.

"Hello. Sleep well?"

"Best sleep I ever had," Duo replied with a smirk, and now much more awake. He moved to be completely on top of Heero, and leaned down to kiss him.

"Umm... Duo..."Hero said between the sweet kisses Duo was giving him.

"Yes?" Duo looked down at him confused.

"I think your sister is back home." Heero pointed to the blanket.

Only then did Duo notice it, as well as the faint smell of coffee coming from the kitchen, "Damn," he sighed. Then he smirked again, grabbed the blanket, and covered both their heads with it. Once under it, he gave Heero one last kiss, long and deep, making them both a little breathless, "Now, I'm gonna go take a shower, and You will not run away, ok?"

"Promise." Heero chuckled, and Duo got off of him.

While the braided man showered, Heero decided to go and see about that coffee. He stretched, getting some of the feeling back into one of his arms. In the kitchen, he met Hilde. She was sitting at the table, reading a book, and sipping from time to time from a steaming cup. She looked up when she herd Heero enter.

"Good morning." he nodded to her.

"Hi. Had a good night?" she smirked at him.

"Couldn't you tell?" he smiled back. "Is there a chance of getting some of that coffee?"

"Sure," she pointed to here the cups and mugs were, and he poured himself some, then went to join her at the table.

She was looking seriously at him now, and it made him feel a little uncomfortable. "Heero, I like you. And Duo seams to like you too. A lot. And I'm happy for him. But mark my words Heero. If you ever hurt my brother, I will find you, and kick your ass. He's a good guy, and he deserves to be treated seriously. He's been hurt badly before, and will not let it happen again, is that clear?"

Heero looked at her with new respect. She cared a lot about Duo, and was willing to fight for his happiness, "I promise you, that I would never willingly hurt him." She nodded, accepting his reply.

"Duo is very lucky to have a sister like you," he smiled at her.

"Thank you," she smiled back, and went back to reading her book.

A minute later, Duo walked into the room, in fresh jeans and a T-shirt, "What's with the gloomy silence guys?" he asked the two quiet figures at the table.

"Not everyone is as chipper as you in the morning. Freak." replied Hilde.

"Well some of us have to, or the other ones wouldn't make it to school on time!"

"Oh, buzz off, lover boy."

Duo just blushed and showed her his tongue.

"You're acting like a kid."

"And you're acting like you're jealous!"

And so the morning continued with Heero chuckling madly at the table, listening to the two siblings mock-argue. When the finished, Duo made some pancakes for breakfast. Heero left a bit after it, with a last promise to Duo to pick him up again at six, so they could go to the movies.

When the weekend was over, Duo was a little dad they had to go back to work. He enjoyed going out with his new boyfriend. He felt warm every time he thought that word.

They went to the movies, and then for some pizza, deciding to bring some back for Hilde. They took walks to the park, embracing, kissing, and just enjoying each others company. On Sunday, Heero took both Duo and Hilde for a small trip. The drove to the near by lake. It was one of the bigger in the country, and they offered all-day cruises on ships. They spend the day an board one, listening to some of the concerts, taking part in all the events, eating outside, on the top deck. The two men managed to get some time together, when Hilde decided to go for the free dance lessons. During that time, they walked hand in hand, exploring the ship. They had a lovely time, and Duo was sure they'd do it again at some point.

But now that the weekend ended, they had work to do. And it pretty much made for no dates. Heero did visit them for another dinner on Wednesday, and they had some plans for today's night, wanting to visit a nice looking restaurant they passed on their way from the movies. For now though Duo was at another press conference, about a very important players contusion. He was sitting in a room full of reporters, TV, radio, papers... all kinds of them. He was a little bored, and was listening to th conversations going on around him. Suddenly one of them caught his interest, ".. yeah, I used to work for 'The Herald', but I quit." a gruff voice was saying behind Duo.

"You quit work in 'Herald' to work in 'New Visions'? Are you crazy? Every one knows that Catalonia is a wacko!" another voice answered, and Duo turned to see the conversing people. Two guys, both of them in their late twenties, the first one with short dark hair, and a sour look on his face, the other a red head, obviously from the TV, a blond, tall camera man siting beside him.

"Yeah, well, she's better than Yuy." the sour looking man spat out.

"Yuy? I've herd he's quite ok. My friends buddy from school is working for him, and he's no complaining." the camera man commented.

"Yuy is a fucking faggot, is what he is!" the first man glared at him.

"It's his choice, that's nothing to do with what kind of a boss he is." said the red head.

"That freak shouldn't be the boss of us, normal people. If he so wants to run a paper, he can hire more queers, and they can print it on pink paper with rainbows all around and a fucking penis for their logo!"

Duo couldn't take it anymore. He was so pissed off, he didn't know what he was doing. He just jumped up, and hit the guy straight in the face, making him fall backwards along with his chair. Duo, stood, rubbing his fist, glaring down at that scum of a man, "Honestly! I don't know what boss thought when he hired you! He couldn't have been thinking with his head... or cock! You're an ugly ass idiot, and no wonder no one but Catalonia wanted to hire you!" Duo yelled at him, then turned and walked out of there, before the security helped him.

Duo stormed into Heero's office, slamming the door behind him, and started pacing from one end of the room to the other, like an angry cat.

"Duo? You're back early," Heero blinked stupidly at him for a moment, and then noticed the pissed off look, "Did something happen?" he asked concerned.

"I've met my predecessor." Step, step, step.

"Did he do something?"

"He said something," step step step, "About you."

"Oh."

"And it pissed me off. Bad." Duo continued pacing, until a firm hand on his shoulder didn't stop him. Then Heero embraced him from behind, "Did you hit him?"

"Yeah," you could hear the satisfaction in Duo's voice.

"Then you did something I very much wanted to do myself." Heero grinned, and kissed the side of his neck. Duo sighed and relaxed at last, entwining his fingers with those of Heero's hand, that was hugging his waist, "How did he find out anyway?"

"He, ah... walked in on me... and my ex. Good thing he did, that guy was a looser. Dumped me the next day." Heero chuckled into his neck.

"I'm glad he did," Duo turned his head and kissed Heero lightly, then sighed, "I should get back to work."

"It's almost lunch time. How about we both take a short brake?" Heero suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Duo smiled, and they both left the office, Duo's mood much better now.

TBC